Newsletter A u r o v i l l e V i l l a g e A c t i o n G r o u p

Towards Solidarityand Unity

Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) strives towards bringing solidarity and unity among communities through various interventions. It’s wide network of6,000 women and men who are members of Self Help Groups , are oftenprovided with opportunities like training programs and awareness sessionswhere they are made to engage with people from different social groups, thuscreating a platform of an equal environment and building  inter-caste andinter-cultural friendships. One of programs that directly addresses caste discrimination is the ExchangeProgram which happens at least four times every month at different villages.These exchange programs bring women from different  caste and dalit groupstogether on a common platform. The approach of this program is towardinclusiveness and breaking cultural and social barriers by recognising theircommonness as women and set the seeds of lifetime friendships. Over a period of time, these exchange programs have become popular amongcommunities of the villages nearby and more and more people areparticipating each time.On the day of the exchange, the women either host orvisit each others villages. Preparations for the program start a day in advancewith the hosts cleaning up their homes and common areas and preparing teaand food for the guests. Participants take the day off from their work toexperience the program.They eat food together, play games and havediscussions on a specific social issue like child protection, handling financesand equal treatment towards boys and girls. In the end, the guests visit thehomes of the hosts and tour the village. The Exchange programs also provide a platform for discussionand dialogue between groups that traditionally would have little opportunityto interact due to stigma and culture taboos families from lower castebackgrounds. Thus, by building a communication between these groups, theylearn to see each other just as women, and not as women from differentcastes and social groups. What makes this program unique is that it is not offered by any other NGO dueto the sensitivity of the caste issue in Indian culture. It is due to our deep-rooted network and good will created among the community that we are ableto execute a program of this nature.

JANUARY-MARCH 2019

About us 

Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) has worked inthe villages surrounding Auroville since 1983 topromote village development and empowerment, byway of programmes in the areas of CommunityDevelopment, Economic Development, CapacityBuilding, and Psychosocial Services, which areexecuted through an expanding network of self-helpgroups (SHGs), a Federation of women and menleaders. The emphasis is not on charity or service, butco-development with villagers to cultivate theknowledge, skills and confidence needed to build abetter future for all.

AVAG's Unique Exchange Program

JANUARY-MARCH 2019

The meaning of Pongal in the livesof rural women

Pongal or Thai Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to the Sun and is celebratedwidely in South India. This day marks the start of the sun’s six-month-long journey northwards. The fourday long festival in mainly celebrated to convey appreciation to the Sun, land andcattle for their roles in the lives of farmers. Part of the celebration is making the firstrice of the season from the harvest, which is a concoction of rice, milk, cardamom,raisins, jaggery and cashew nuts. The festival has a variety of diverse traditions like cooking the pongal rice,decorating cows, making colourful Kolams at the entrance of houses and visitingelders and families and getting their blessings

Pongal is a very special festival for AVAG and is celebratedwith great fervour each year. The celebration begins atthe AVAG office where women from over 300 Self HelpGroups (SHG) come together along with volunteers andrepresentatives from Auroville. "This is a day when we get to take a break from our dailychores and come together to play sports and participate indifferent cultural activities. I start my day by decorating myhome and as a tradition, paint the horns of my cows." saysJayanti, who hails from Vasantapuram village. " We waitfor Pongal every year as it is a big ceremony for us andbrings us joy and the chance to celebrate with each other"she adds. When asked what meaning Pongal holds in her life, BomaDevi says," The festival is no longer the same as it wasmany years before. You can see the meaning of Pongalfading away slowly, especially in urban regions.The rural people are still trying to preserve the culture andmaintain the meaning of this festival for futuregenerations." The women participated in different games and culturalactivities and dressed up in sarees with flowers adorningtheir hair.

Meet Caroline, a student from American University of Paris, whovolunteered with us in January : “Working with AVAG was an unforgettable experience for me. I had theopportunity to work with the team, particularly in communications, during myone month in Auroville. I was inspired to join the team, as I felt an immediateconnection to the projects that AVAG is working on, in particular, the Kabaddiprogram for women. I helped develop a social media strategy for the team inorder to promote the wonderful and unique programs offered by AVAG. Gettingto work with the team and seeing how these programs impact the surroundingvillages really showed me the importance of NGOs, like AVAG, that are workingtowards sustainable development goals. I feel so inspired to continue helpingdifferent NGOs that are making opportunities available to women that theywould not have had otherwise. I dream of coming back to Auroville andcontinuing my work at AVAG. I would love to conduct statistical research and toexamine the results of these programs over a period of time. Until then, Icannot thank the team at AVAG enough for all they have given me and taughtme in such a short time. AVAG is truly one of a kind.”

Caroline's Story

JANUARY-MARCH 2019

We asked Mina, one of the Women's Federation member, abouther experience of participating in the exchange program.Here's what she had to say: "I have always wanted to be able to take care of people andwork together, be able to express the energy towards my work.The exchange program gives me a chance to do so. We shareproblems with each other, meditate together and are able tofeel the power of unity towards each other. After participating inthis program, I don't feel that other women are strangers. I feellike they are my sisters. It's like a family!”

Village Action Diaries

The latest buzz from our social enterprise

"The purpose of my role here is to analyse the issues the tailors are dealing withand suggest ways to help them correct and learn from their difficulties.My work is also to provide my skills as a designer to these women and come upwith appropriate solutions to the problems they face regarding stitching, cutting,finishing etc. I help them to become better in this area and improve their work regularly. I am very happy to be part of this enterprise and having the chance to help in away that would be useful to them in the long term."

AVAL is a social enterprise which offers tailoring training for women in order tohelp them develop skills in making handcrafted products. The enterprisebridges the gap between rural artisans and urban designers, thereby bringingin contemporary styles for all. Recently, we had a designer, Khushbu Rohit, whois pursuing her masters in design from National Institute of Design, India. Sheshares a few words about her experience so far:

JANUARY-MARCH 2019

Celebrating International Women's Day Everyday is women’s day in Auroville Village Action Group, wherethrough various activities and programs we embracewomanhood.Therefore, the International Women’s Day celebratedworldwide, also holds a lot of significance for AVAG where women arecelebrated for being women. Every year, the celebrations for women's day take new shapes anddimensions and nowadays, the women's clubs themselves organise thecelebrations in their own villages, covering more than 75% of the cost.Some also get together with other villages and SHGs to hold cluster levelcelebrations where they fully cover the cost. In this way, women fromdifferent villages and caste groups can participate and get to know eachother better and also get the practical experience to plan, preparebudget and execute events. From the planning stage itself, the women started working. Eachwomens cub had a representative to plan the events, divide theresponsibilities and manage the budget to organise these events basedon contribution received from each member.

The Debating Program

The goal of this program is to build awareness on lifestyles and spending patterns and foster an understanding on how to be financiallyprudent and aim at saving their money for more necessary things.The women did a great job at taking a serious topic like finance anddiscussing it with fun, and laughter and making it entertaining for all participants.

In each village, the women celebrated by playing games like kabaddi,performed traditional folk dances, songs and dramas on social issues.The fun fair is followed by lunch and speeches by the women. The various celebrations and events on Women's day are aimed atincreasing solidarity among women and also to sensitise them onissues they face. The closing message at the end of the celebrations is a reminder to thewomen that all of us should be honoured as women regularly  and notjust one day of the year.

On March 18th, as a continuation of women's day celebration,AVAG organised a debate competition on the theme of'Necessary and Unnecessary Expenses'.The entire day was dedicated to discussions and debates on thistopic. Divided into two teams, the women had to explainthrough speeches their point of view about the commonexpenses in their daily lives and try to determine if they arenecessary or not while finding arguments to support theirpoints.This was a good to way understand what the priorities of theexpenses are and what the consequences of unnecessaryexpenses in life are.

JANUARY-MARCH 2019

Security and Safety Awareness The year 2018 ended with a crowded seminar on the 7th ofDecember with 250 women from 55 villages around Auroville.During this day the inspector of police Mrs.D.Ezhilarasi did apresentation about security, including a new app from the TamilNadu police called “Kavalan SOS app”. This app is designedspecifically for citizens of Tamil Nadu, to use whenever they feelthreatened or in a vulnerable position. This app enables thepolice to reach them immediately, no matter where they are. Italso allows for anonymous complaints, which can be verifiedinstantly.The app can be downloaded by typing Kavalan SOS on Google Play Store.

How can you help? 

Should you be interested in supporting our work youcan do so:  1) In kind, volunteering for some time for theorganisation by contacting Anbu or Angela atavagoffice@auroville.org.in  2) Through financial contributions. Donations will berouted through the Auroville Unity Fund. Please specifythe project name as “Auroville Village Action Group” tomake sure AVAG receives your contribution. Auroville Unity Fund Account Number: 10237876508SWIFT CODE: SBININBB474 Bank: State Bank of India Branch name: Auroville International Township BranchCode: 03160

The team at AVAG is ever evolving with diverse, dynamic andenthusiastic volunteers joining us from different parts of the world.Werecently had the pleasure to welcome two volunteers, Pénélope, aFrench volunteer and Aaron, a Welwarts volunteer from Germany. Apart from that, we have two other long term volunteers working withus since August 2018- Shrimayee, who hails from Delhi (India) andKonrad, who comes from Germany as well.  The team is also consists of two Aurovillians, Angela and Madhualong with our directors, Anbu and Morris.

Meet the Team 

Our Social Media Presence recently redesigned our website: www.villageaction.in are now on various social media platforms:

cebook: @AurovilleVillageActionGrouptagram: aurovillevillageactiongroupkedIn: Auroville Village Action Groupitter: @VillageActionlow us to be updated on all our activities!

Training and Awareness Programsat Village Action

Medical Camps

One of our key initiatives towards healthcare of women and children isconducting health camps with support from Pondicherry Institute ofMedical Science (PIMS).  These camps take place twice a week(Mondays and Tuesdays) in two different villages. Free tests are doneand medicines are given free of cost and when there is need for furtherinvestigation and treatment, it is given at PIMS hospital at zero cost. Wealso conduct monthly eye-camps with the support of PIMS, particularlyto identify cataract and other eye related diseases. Spectacles are givenat subsidised price and further surgery is given free of cost.